Reliving and Retelling the Story: Processes, Pitfalls, and Facilitation of Self-Study Research

• In Event: On Facilitating Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices in Different National and Transnational Contexts

Abstract

Objective
The three authors of this paper have been working together in a collaborative self-study project (2009-2011). The project aimed to deepen teacher educators’ understanding and improvement of their practice of supporting student teachers during their internship, but also represented the first attempt to use the methodological and pedagogical insights from the S-STEP approach in the context of Flemish teacher education. Our roles in the project were complimentary: author B conducted the actual self-study on his practice (supervisory conferences). Author A and C supported that process as academic researchers, providing input on theoretical frameworks and methodology. In this paper we relive and retell this intense, multi-layered experience six years after date. Our approach takes the form of a ‘structured conversation’ in which the voices of the different participants speak about the various layers in the project. By inviting the reader/listener to join the conversation, to relate or disagree, we aim to stimulate the S-STEP community in their thinking on how to meaningfully facilitate and enact self-study.

Methodology
We explain our methodology as a practice-based dialogue (Author et al., 2013). This emphasizes our goal to analyze actual teacher education practices (and not just the hopes or aspirations for practice) aiming to deepen our understanding of what is happening in practice (and why).

Results
We will share the major themes of our analytical conversation in two sections. First, we revisit the frustration that served as the starting point of this particular self-study: author B’s tendency to take the lead in supervisory conferences with student teachers, generously sharing his wisdom of practice, and offering concrete tips for improvement, rather than stimulating students to self-reflect on their lesson experiences. The reconstruction of the self-study is interspersed with reflections on the process. We focus on, for example, the importance of including data from practice that literally ‘hold up the mirror’ by providing feedback on actual teacher educator behavior and its outcomes. Then we move to an interpretive discussion of how the methodological and pedagogical principles we started from actually worked out in practice (and why). We consider, for example, the paradox of collegial relations in the research group which constitute a crucial supporting factor in the ‘risky’ process of self-study but might also hinder professional development as too supportive collegial relations make it difficult to critically question one another’s normative beliefs. We also explore how the group process may still install relationships of hierarchy and dependence, even when working from the idea of complementary competence and equally valuing the diversity in expertise (academic expertise/‘lived’ experience of practice). The conversation develops into a series of propositions on how to facilitate self-study, involving clear consequences for future projects.

Significance
This paper contributes to a more refined, grounded understanding of how to facilitate self-study, at the same time also offering a reflective tool to analyze and improve future initiatives.

Authors

• Eline Vanassche, University of East London

• Ludovicus Beck, University of Leuven

• Geert Kelchtermans, University of Leuven